In his case, that corner was Roanoke in Randolph County, a town of about 6,000 people in east Alabama.

And while much of the talk this week has been about a small town Alabama newspaper carrying an editorial calling for the return of the KKK, Stevenson’s guidance at his family’s weekly newspaper, the Randolph Leader, is being remembered for helping his community and its residents.

Stevenson died Feb. 14 after a year and a half battle with cancer. He was 70. Stevenson was only the third editor of the newspaper, which was founded by his grandfather, Olin Hampton Stevenson in 1892. John Stevenson took over the reins of the newspaper from his father, John B., in 1982.

Shortly before his death, Stevenson, a past president of the Alabama Press Association and the National Newspaper Association, was presented with the APA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He had previously received Auburn University’s Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist Award.

John’s brother David accepted the APA award on his behalf.

“He really poured his heart and soul into the communities that they serve with that paper,” David Stevenson said of his brother. “Doing his best to produce the best possible paper in a small town and community in a small county even during some tough economic times.”

His involvement led to a better community, said Bill Keller, past executive director of the APA.

“Randolph County has lost a man who through the Leader committed himself to the betterment of Roanoke, Wedowee and the whole county,” Keller said. “John’s enthusiasm was contagious. When he involved himself in a project that was good for the county it got done.”

Among Stevenson’s contributions, Keller said, was establishing a no-kill animal shelter and advocating for sales taxes to support a new hospital and local schools.

Funeral services are planned for Saturday in Roanoke.

Stevenson is survived by his wife, Jennifer Chandler Stevenson, Development and Special Events Coordinator for the Lakeshore Foundation and a 1976 Olympic Gold medalist for the U.S. Diving Team, and a host of other family members and, according to his obituary, “many additional furry children.” He was preceded in death by his son, J.B. Stevenson, for whom the APA’s J.B. Stevenson Scholarship is named.